Thursday, June 21, 2012

A meme instead of reviewing

I feel like I have a lot of "I'm writing this instead of writing an actual review" posts recently. I still like writing reviews. I'm also very lazy, and those take more effort than my rambly posts. I also don't think I've been sleeping well. I say "I don't think" because I'm not waking up in the middle of the night. I'm just super tired during the day, which has been moving into over-tired-to-the-point-of-deliriousness. Though I think I amused the Whole Foods worker yesterday when I made race car noises with my car while picking up groceries.

So anyway, I saw this meme on Sarah's of Sarah Says Read blog who got it from Jillian at A Room of One's Own and on and on until you can't figure out where these things actually start but that's not the point. The point is, here's an excuse to talk (more) about myself and I'm taking it.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack: I don't usually. Because I'll get distracted by the food and pay more attention to that then the book. 

What is your favorite drink while reading? Yeah, I also don't normally drink either. I'm either reading on the train and it's probably best if I don't add a beverage to that equation, unless I really want to spill on myself and probably some innocent commuter. And then when I'm at home the table is slightly too far away so I have to actually lean forward if I want to put the drink down or pick it up. And that's way too much work.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? The horror! The horror! I sorta wish I did write in books but then I know if I did and I looked back at the comments later I'd think "Oh naive you. You had no idea what you were saying"

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open? Bookmark. Or just remember where I was. That's my "I don't have a bookmark but I don't want to dog-ear the page" method. Why yes, I did end up re-reading a lot of the same stuff over again cos I couldn't quite remember where I'd left off. How'd you guess?

Fiction, non-fiction, or both? Both, but mostly fiction.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere? Wherever. I usually stop based on if the train is currently at my station. If I'm not commuting I try to go to the end of a chapter but if I find myself drifting I just stop wherever I am.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you? I haven't yet. I don't want to mess up the book. Or with my luck I'd damage the TV or something.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away? Pretty much never. And it's only "pretty much" instead of "absolutely never" because I sometimes will look up the word with my Kindle. But actually going to a computer and looking up a word? No, that's not going to happen. It should. I know I should probably look those things up but, again, lazy.

What are you currently reading? Kindred by Octavia Butler and holy crap, is it good and difficult. I also started Slaughterhouse-Five but got distracted/realized I'd be reading ANOTHER white guy and decided I needed to do something about that.

What is the last book you bought? Kindred. It has been crazy hard to find. And by that I mean the 3 times I remembered I wanted to read it while at a bookstore it wasn't there. And it just recently became available on Kindle.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read? My commute because I don't have to do anything else. Nothing else that needs done and little to distract me. Well, less than normal when there's the computer and TV and people and food to distract me.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones? Stand alone. I like some series (Thursday Next, I heart your face) but for the most part I don't end up reading the rest of a series.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over? Well Christopher Moore. I seem to tell EVERYONE to read him. But you guys aren't listening, so I need to keep repeating myself. Also you guys should read Jasper Fforde because he writes Thursday Next stuff and other series that are amazing. And yes, I know I just said I prefer stand alone books and this guy writes series but did you miss the face-hearting?

How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.) They are currently organized by "these books were all in a box together so they're on this shelf together". Because this recent move took forever and I just put stuff on the shelves with the thought that I'd organize it eventually. And it will happen. Eventually. There's some order, leftover from the last time I organized them that transitioned to our current place based on how I boxed up books. So the Shakespeare is together. The books that are in my room (Moore, Fforde, other fav books) are still together. But that's about it.

Comments (21)

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I love the "oh, naive you!" aspect of writing in my books. I think it'll be so cool to look back in twenty years and see myself puzzling and expressing in my old books. :)
1 reply · active 664 weeks ago
I look back 5 years and stuff I wrote in my books in college and think "Look how confident you were that your thoughts were genius and unique. silly girl" I think I need a better mindset when looking at that stuff.
I'm impressed that you have the self control to stop reading on any given page! I have to finish the chapter no matter what and almost missed the bus many times. This is also why my experience with reading A Thousand and One Nights also felt like a thousand and one nights without sleep, because damn you, Scheherazade, these aren't chapters!!!

Also - I cringe every time I look at my high school lit assigned readings, because we were required to annotate. Ughhh.
2 replies · active 664 weeks ago
It's my ability to give up on something at the drop of a hat. I do at least try to stop reading at the end of a paragraph or somewhere that is a natural stopping point. But I'm always afraid of missing my stop
It's a good skill, knowing when to give up on something. Even if you're pretty far in, sometimes it's better to stop than to
"Though I think I amused the Whole Foods worker yesterday when I made race car noises with my car while picking up groceries." I always think I'm hilarious when I do shit like this (usually when I'm overtired too!) but whoever is with me thinks I'm a crazy person, so... Clearly they're wrong and we are just amusing when tired!

I am applauding all the answers to your questions. Well done. I'm totally doing this next time I have no posts (which is, in fact, tomorrow. But I'm not doing it tomorrow. HA)
1 reply · active 664 weeks ago
Yeah I guess she was probably just like "Smile and back away from the crazy lady". I was also making screeching noises going around corners. ALSO I was still dressed up from work in heels and a nice dress. Just to add to the ridiculousness.

Yay, play along with the meme! I love seeing other people's answers to this almost as much as I like talking about myself.
"Oh naive you. You had no idea what you were saying" - haha, the only book I've ever written in was also for school (grade 12) - The War, and I too cringe when I see my "thoughts", but also, it is kinda cool at the same time - but I just can't bring myself to ever mark my books up. I think I have this fear that someone else would one day see my thoughts/comments and totally judge me ;p

P.S. I haven't commented before, but I've been reading your posts for a while, I really like your style! And laziness! It makes me feel better about my laziness ;)
2 replies · active 664 weeks ago
I'm glad you decided to comment! And that I'm making you feel better about your laziness. Lazy people unite! Later. Maybe. Unless there's something good on TV.
Ha! I love it. I like to say I'm just really good at procrastinating, not lazy per se. Also, I just realized that I put 'The War' when I obviously meant 'The Wars'. Sigh.
Ha, I used to just remember what page I left off at when I was younger. I was all "bookmarks are for suckers". And then I got older and apparently stopped being able to remember things in my old age of mid-20's.

*jumps up and down* I like Christopher Moore! I like Christopher Moore! Seriously, why don't more people read his books? Oh I remember really liking Kindred, even though it's been like 7 years since I read it. Also, Slaughterhouse-Five sucks, IMHO. So you know, yay if you skip it and never look back.
1 reply · active 663 weeks ago
I did the no bookmark thing until pretty much this past year when suddenly I was like "why am I spending these minutes trying to remember where I last was? Wasting time"

I read Slaughterhouse back in high school and after that decided to read ALL THE VONNEGUT (although I didn't make it that far but I do have a number of his books) so I think I will enjoy it again. At least I hope I do.
Wait, did I not comment on this? Oops.

Keep me updated on Kindred, dude. I think Octavia Butler's on my TBR list because someone mentioned her like a year ago. ALSO I am one of those "grab a random piece of paper as a bookmark and then treasure it throughout the read and then get sad when it gets lost" people. "I LOVEDED YOU, RECEIPT. I LOVEDED YOOOOOU."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpbQZOEKsGI
1 reply · active 663 weeks ago
READ KINDRED! I just finished it yesterday and it's so good. And difficult to read cos, you know, slavery, but SO GOOD. It's less sci-fi-y than her other stuff, so says the reader's guide at the back of the book. And it was less sci-fi (read: no aliens) than her Lilith's Brood trilogy that I read last year.

I love that clip
I do love Thursday Next something fierce. I just read Kindred last year and it was really interesting.
1 reply · active 663 weeks ago
Hooray for more Thursday Next fans! Fav TN book?
Haha, I recently made a batch of popcorn to eat while reading.Yeah. 5 minutes later the popcorn was all gone and I hadn't even opened the book... Right there with you on the snacks.
Oh, I have been meaning to read some Christopher Moore. Which one do you recommend?
2 replies · active 663 weeks ago
Glad I'm not the only one distracted by food.

OK so Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal is my favorite book. Just, of them all. So I have to recommend that one, although I know a book with Jesus as a main character might turn people away. though I will say it's not a super religious book and def not preachy. BUT if you wanted to start with something different

A Dirty Job and Fool are both excellent. A Dirty Job is about a guy that sort of becomes Death. Or death (little "d", not necessarily the big guy) and there's all sorts of weirdness. And then Fool is King Lear but fleshed out and told from the Fool's point of view. I don't know if it helps to have read Lear before hand or be familiar with Shakespeare. I actually don't think it matters but since I'd already read Lear a couple times before reading Fool, I can't say for sure.

Sacre Bleu is his latest one and is also excellent, although slightly more serious/less funny than the others. Slightly. And now I've rambled...
Haha no worries- will definitely look into them! Thanks :)
KINDRED! Yes! That is one of my all-time faves.
1 reply · active 663 weeks ago
Yes! It was so good. So good. Like shove into everyone's hands, why doesn't everyone read this one good.

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